UFC 109 Preview: Frank Trigg, Matt Serra Battle for One Last Shot at Relevance

The first main card match-up at Saturday night's UFC 109 will feature a showdown between two long-time mixed martial art veterans who have a propensity to get highly involved in the entertainment aspect of the sport in the lead-up to major fights.

Heavily-accented New York-born Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Matt "The Terror" Serra (9-6, 6-6 UFC) will battle former Olympic Trials finalist wrestler and PRIDE veteran Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg (19-7, 2-3 UFC) in a trash-talk riddled showdown between two aging fighters who will both want to prove they can remain relevant in the landscape of the UFC's welterweight division. Both men have been jabbering to the media quite frequently about one another in order to build some hype around this fight, but are the fans actually buying it?

Some fans might think so, but skill always has its place in this sport when it comes to interesting fights. The ultimate problem with the hype that Trigg and Serra are creating for this fight is that many fans feel that Serra is completely overrated despite becoming the UFC's welterweight champion back at UFC 69. Some of those same fans also believe Trigg is at the end of his career as he can't seem to defeat the great wrestlers that reside at the top of the division.

While it might look like both fighters are trying to generate some controversy or hatred toward one another, the relevance of the battle is countering those attempts. Fans like to see relevant battles intensified by the talk. Think Dan Hardy vs. Marcus Davis. Hardy was on the rise as a potential contender, Davis was a middle-of-the-road obstacle. Neither Serra or Trigg are potential contenders at this point in the eyes of any fan.

That isn't to say either fighter can't change their fortunes with a win on Saturday and a string of future victories. Both Serra and Trigg enter this contest following losses with Serra dropping a slightly controversial decision to Matt Hughes at UFC 98 and Trigg being battered by Josh Koscheck at UFC 103. They'll both need to improve greatly if they want to have any impact on the upper echelon of the division following those losses, and an impressive performance on Saturday will go a long way in pushing them into better fights.

Serra has shown flashes of heavy-handed power in a number of his fights, but he's only truly finished one opponent in his career via TKO in Georges St. Pierre at UFC 69. Trigg, on the other hand, has proven his power on multiple occasions, although those wins were years ago. With the diminished power in Trigg's striking and Serra's powerful hands coming into question, this fight will rely on the skills that got each fighter to where they are today.

Trigg's outstanding pedigree in wrestling and Serra's black belt-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu will likely be the storyline for this fight. Trigg's submission defense in the past has been a problem, and it has resulted in some fans calling him Frank "Rear Naked" Trigg due to his rear-naked choke losses to St. Pierre and Hughes. But the fact of the matter is that both St. Pierre and Hughes out wrestled Trigg to gain those beneficial positions, and it'll be a challenging prospect for Serra to do the same.

Serra's size and length are almost always a disadvantage for him, but he does have some power in his limbs to be an annoyance off his back. Superior wrestlers have been able to dominate Serra in the past however, so he'll need to come to this fight knowing some of the specific weaknesses of his opponent. Trigg isn't impossible to submit, but he does have a solid understanding of position from the top and avoidance of the submission.

It's a tough call in this one. While I think Serra stands a decent shot at defeating Trigg. I think Trigg's foundation in wrestling is going to be the deciding factor. If Serra can take Trigg's back, it'll be a tough night for Trigg, but I think he can gain top control and pound on Serra just enough to squeak out a victory on Saturday.